Maybe
by SiN1
Summary: Trunks has fallen for a certain raven haired beauty. Does she feel the same? Maybe. T/P


Hey everyone I'm back again with something new. I thought I should write this since I said I would.   
  
So here it is..   
  
Maybe  
By: SiN  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
I'm looking at her now. To think it all started on a Saturday afternoon.   
^***************^   
All around I seen people giving hugs and kisses. How I longed for one of those. One of each. Lonely and thirty one, I wasn't getting any younger. My looks, I guess were pretty much the same. I'm considered handsome and charming. But what good are those if that's the only reason I am loved? Not to mention also because of my wealth.   
  
I know I'm loved by my family, dearly, but that's not enough.   
The love I pursued was from a woman. A woman who would understand me, give me the true love I've been craving for. Despair had fallen upon me as I thought I would never find love, from that woman. I kept it to myself. The burden of my fears.  
  
Perhaps Goten understands. He's only a year younger than I, surely he feels the same. I can't be an eligible bachelor forever can I? But why bother when in the eyes of women I'll only be seen as a type of meat that they want to sink their acid teeth into. All women are the same. Maybe one girl, no, one woman has never seen me as anything more than a best friend.   
  
"Hey Trunks, come in the waters great!"  
  
Yeah, Pan was definitely a woman, now. I remember as I stared at her finely toned body in that tight black bikini. Oh, Panny when did you grow up? Am I really that old? I was surprised that Gohan actually let her wear that. But whom was I to complain. Look at me, have I become so desperate for love that I'm becoming attracted to seventeen year olds now? Maybe I couldn't stop starring at her because whenever I looked at her I'd see a glimpse of a past I'd never had, but yearned for.  
  
She's always been so carefree and wild, all the things that never graced themselves upon me. I took a look around and seen most of the parents talking, my dad leaning against a tree and Goku who tried to talk to him. I know my dad looked like he could kill but despite all his attempts Goku never left. After looking at them I looked back at Pan who was with my sister and Goten splashing each other, dunking heads.  
  
"Hey Trunks, the waters fine." Goten shouted at me.   
  
"Trunks you scared of a little splash. Your hair wont get ruined, much." My sister hollered at me.   
  
I just shouted a "Fine" and dove in.   
  
It's not like I wouldn't have gone in. I would have, eventually. I really was planning on getting in, I'm not that vain about my hair, I was just merely lost in my thoughts.  
  
"Where's Pan?" I shouted as I stopped swimming and looked around some more and then swam to where Goten and Bra were. I never anticipated anything.  
  
"Here!" I felt my head being pushed underwater. I sputtered, spit and coughed as I came up for air.   
  
"That wasn't funny." I frowned at Pan.   
  
She just smiled and said, "Then why are they laughing?" She directed her head in the direction of Goten and Bra who happened to be laughing and drowning at the same time.  
  
Pan knew I hated being pushed underwater, they all knew. Maybe that's what made it so funny. It's always more funnier when the person being ridiculed hates whatever is being done to them.  
  
I just gave them a smile, though more to Goten. They looked at me bewildered.   
  
"Trunks are you smiling? You do know your a mess now?" Bra asked me.  
  
"I know that look, he's up to something." Goten said giving me a grin, I nodded to him and we both pushed Pan and Bra underwater. Goten held Bra's head while I held Pan's. They both squirmed, well I remember Pan did. Pan then stopped suddenly and I panicked thinking she ran out of air, but then I remembered that we all could hold breath for a couple of minutes.  
  
I felt a tug on my bathing suit, she was trying to pull it off. I pulled back but I just made the situation worse, my bathing suit tore. I blushed crimson. Goten had similar problems with Bra, only he told me that she kept digging her nails in his legs before she tore his off.   
  
"Come and get them."   
  
The girls both mocked us. Well it wasn't as if it was the first time Pan seen me naked before. Her and Bra did just about the craziest dares and somehow I was always used in their mischief. That's what I meant when I said it wasn't Pan's first time seeing me naked, but it didn't make me feel any more comfortable than I was.   
  
Goten appeared calm he even said,  
  
"So, does it look like we care? Right Trunks?"  
  
I was about to protest, I knew Pan and if you said something like that to her she'll make you eat your words. And she did.   
  
"Burn baby, burn."  
  
She laughed as our, my only means of clothing right then was burned to nothing. I hurt Goten for that, he still bears some marks today. He may have not cared, but the girls knew I was very sensitive when it came to my appearance. Sure the women that claimed to love me said I was "beautiful" but that didn't make me any less bashful.   
  
I dove underwater trying to get away, I swam as far as I could only to be met face to face with a smiling Pan, hands behind her back, hair swishing around her. What a site. I covered myself as best as I could. She pulled her hands that were hidden behind her back, pants. She had my pants. How she got them is still a mystery. I never asked her how she managed to get them, but at the time nothing mattered more to me than putting them on.  
  
I quickly grabbed them, flung them on in the water as best as I could. Pan the whole time staring and smiling. I guess she got an eyeful out of me. I felt pretty good when she did that, smile at me. Pan never gave compliments to any guy, even the ones she dated. So if she ever gave you one be grateful, it's pretty rare. Well she didn't exactly say she liked what she saw but a smile was enough to satisfy me.  
  
Maybe I also felt satisfied because I thought she had succumb to my so called pleasant looks. Apart of me felt proud that she, Son Pan had maybe fallen for me after all. The other part dreaded that she might have, I didn't want her too seeing me as a piece of meat. Who was I kidding, even if she did fall for me she would never see me as those vicious canine, money grubbing women did. No, not her.  
  
I thanked her, once we were above water and asked,  
  
"What about Goten? Did you give him his?"   
  
Pan smiled again. I swear the more she does that the more I want.. Nah. Maybe. I'm still not sure. She told me,  
  
"Bra's handling him."   
  
Sure enough my sister punished Goten for ruining "her hair." I know Bra and she is as overprotective of her hair as I am of mine, even more so. Goten came up from beneath the water and screamed,  
  
"Enough, Bra please stop!"  
  
Well Bra sure had a funny way of punishing him, she kept pinching his bare behind as he tried to swim away from her. Pan and I both knew she was enjoying it. Goten finally had enough and pulled Bra's bikini string. I turned around.  
  
Pan was the only one untouched. I looked at her and she simply said,  
  
"Don't even think it."  
  
I thought about it and it was best that I didn't do anything. She could have taken my pants.   
It was a funny sight, all of us in the water. Goten butt naked, well covering himself as best as he could with Bra's bikini top, Bra trying to grab her top and not show any skin and me swimming in tight silk pants with my hair tangled, stuck to my head. Pan was the only one lucky enough to survive humiliation, even if she got pushed down once it didn't compare to the rest of us.  
  
Pan and I started swimming away, leaving Goten and Bra who were still fighting for Bra's bikini top. I was surprised no one heard them yelling, Pan and I could here them and we were close to shore.  
  
"GOTEN GET BACK HERE NOW! IF YOU DON'T YOU'LL PAY DEARLY, YOU SORRY EXCUSE OF A MAN !" My sister sometimes reminded me so much of my mother it was scary.   
  
Pan stopped swimming and flew back to shore, looking casual to the parents as if nothing happened. From what I could see, she grabbed some towels and flew back to give them to Bra and Goten. I swam the rest of the way and grabbed a towel of my own.  
  
I was sitting on a bench drying my hair when Pan decided she wanted to play with it.  
  
"Still got tangles I see. Lye down and I'll help." I obeyed.  
  
She sat down at the end of the bench and I laid my head on her lap, my legs dangling off the bench. She gently untangled my hair and just played with my scalp.  
  
"So Trunks what have you been doing lately? I mean other than work." She asked me.  
  
"Well nothing really." I said somewhat tired, maybe it was because of her touch, how gentle it was. It was lulling me to sleep. I thought my answer wasn't good enough like maybe she expected something more.  
  
"Oh, so you haven't done anything? Haven't started any new hobbies?"  
  
I knew she was getting at something, trying to tell me something.  
  
"Well."  
  
"Well what?" She asked me. Looking up I could see her smile. Maybe if she smiled more, I...   
  
"Well what are you trying to tell me Pan? What new hobby have you taken up?" I asked her trying to get up. She held me down, and continued twirling my hair.   
  
"It's not really a hobby anymore, I think. I've been painting."  
  
I looked up at her. I never pictured Pan as the artist type. Heck I didn't even know if she could draw.   
  
"So how long have you been doing it?" I asked her curiously.  
  
"About a year now."   
  
"A year?" I was shocked, she seemed serious. The only thing I've ever seen her interested in was fighting.   
  
"Yeah a year." She looked up to the sky, she was in thought.  
  
"Are you serious? Do you want to become professional?"   
  
"Maybe." She replied. She sounded nonchalant, but I knew she was serious. She isn't the type to do anything unless she puts her whole heart in it. If she's been really painting for a year then that meant she was serious.  
  
She kept talking, "You know I "might" even participate in Satan City's upcoming national fair. The winner gets a chance at a scholarship."   
  
"Really." I didn't remember any mention of a fair, but I never got out much so I wouldn't have known anyway.  
  
"Not exactly. If you win, you win. But Grampa Satan told me that there are going to be representatives from certain respected colleges and universities that are looking for new fresh talent, they're looking for recruits. If your too young they'd keep your name and check with you once your old enough."  
  
"Are you going to enter?" I asked her.   
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Do you think you have a chance?" I kind of moaned the words out, she was still playing with my hair and it felt relaxing. Very relaxing.  
  
"Maybe." She didn't sound too confident. She really was serious otherwise she would've made some joke about her being the best.  
  
"Maybe. Why not yes?" I asked her. I thought that she might have been a little insecure about showing her work, maybe they weren't that good. Don't get me wrong, I've never seen her paintings so I just assumed it. She said she's been painting for a year now, how good could her work be?  
  
"Well all these snotty rich kids are entering. I saw some names and...I've seen their work." She sounded a little down. I hated seeing her down, it meant she wasn't smiling and not smiling was not her. I wanted her to smile again.  
  
"So what. Pan don't give in to those types. What ever happened to the Pan that didn't care about what others thought, that did as she pleased. If you want to enter then enter, show off and have fun." I tried to cheer her up. An unhappy Pan meant an unhappy me, even if we're only friends that's how close we were, are.  
  
"Thanks Trunks. Your right. I will enter. I don't care what they think, it's what I think that matters. The old Pan is back and ready to strut her stuff. Even if I get last place who cares, I'm gonna have fun." She nearly pushed me off in her excitement, I didn't mind. She was happy again and so was I.  
  
I sat up, she stopped playing with my hair so there was no need to stay in that position. "No need to thank me. I'm sure someone else would have made you change your mind and give you back your confidence." Well it was true, someone would have. I just got to her first. Pan is smart even if no one did she would have changed her mind all on her own, sooner or later. There was no need for me to feel good about that.  
  
"Yes, I should thank you. No one else knows, not my parents, not even Bra." I was a little sceptical at first when she said that. Me, she told me only. Come on, me? Out of her parents and my sister. Me.   
  
"Only me? Come on Pan, you'd tell me over your best friend." I hoped she would say the same thing, that I was the only one.   
  
"Yes, only you." She lightly nudged me in the shoulder. "And so what if I told you instead of Bra, who cares?" I kind of slouched when she said that.   
  
So she said what I wanted to hear but she added to it. And I didn't know why but it hurt when she said that added part "who cares". I did.   
  
I sat up straight as she looked at me quizzically. "So what about your parents? You haven't even told them?" I said rather fast. Again I hoped she'd said yes. Even if she didn't care. She must have a little. Right? I hoped so.  
  
"What is it with you? I already told you, no one knows but you. If you think I'm doing this behind everyone's back..." She got off the bench. "Okay so maybe it looks that way, but I was planning on telling them "if" I decide to enter." I still sat on the bench. She looked cute defending herself, even if I didn't mean for her to think I was implying anything. I just wanted to know why me?   
  
"Hey, I only wanted to know why me?" She thought about it before answering. I felt a little pained that she had to think about it. I wanted her to say...I don't really know what I wanted her to say, but I knew I was anxious to hear her answer.  
  
"Why not you? Your my best friend too right?" That was a reasonable answer. At least she didn't say "You were the only one available at the moment".   
  
"Yes...I am." I said that slowly. I didn't want to say that but my voice betrayed me, maybe it was for the best.   
  
"So then why wouldn't I tell you? I could have told Bra or my parents but I wanted to tell you. I trust you. I-I trust them too. I-It's just we haven't had a chance to talk lately and I don't know but you seemed like the perfect person to." I cut her off I could tell she was feeling uncomfortable. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?   
  
"Well I'm glad you chose me." I stood up after I said that.   
  
"Me too. Feel honoured that I told you." She winked, I blushed. "I better get going. Dad might be worried bout me."   
  
"Yeah, wouldn't want daddy getting worried that his little girl strayed far." She laughed at that, we both did.  
  
"I swear you always make me smile." I make her smile. "See ya." And she flew off to find her dad.   
^*************^  
  
It's been two years since. After that day I thought a lot of things through. Now I look at her today. Turns out she was quite the artist. She didn't get first place, but she got third. Pretty good, excellent considering she was a beginner and some people have painted for years to get that far. She's leaving for college. This would be the last time I'd see her for quite awhile.  
  
"Trunks I'm gonna miss you. Thanks for helping me. I don't think I would be here if it weren't for you." She said as she hugged me, I hugged back.  
  
"Yes you would. It wasn't because of me you made it this far. It was your talent, you did it all on your own." She pulled back.   
  
"Yeah, well you did help. You listened, encouraged and helped me tell everyone and my parents."  
  
"And Chichi." Bra said hugging her."  
  
"Yeah, who would have thought she'd let you go after that fit she threw about how she wanted you to be a scholar." Goten said taking a turn of hugging Pan.  
  
It was only Goten, Bra and I that are seeing her off. The others, my family and hers just left us to say our goodbyes in private.   
  
They just called for her flight.   
  
"Bye you guys. I'll write and call." Pan said giving one last hug to everyone. She hugged Bra first.  
  
"You better visit during your break or I'll hunt you down, you hear." Bra was in tears. "If I'm not too busy, I will." Pan said releasing her and went to her uncle.  
  
"Hey squirt, did you hear what she said? If you don't come on those breaks she wont be the only one hunting." Goten let go of her and she kissed him on the cheek.  
  
She came to me and hugged me. "Trunks, do you know how much I'm gonna miss you? She still hugged me, I wanted her to stay but if she didn't leave she might miss her flight.   
  
"Pan your flight." She interrupted me. "I know, I know. Just wanted to tell you that I...for awhile have...when I visit maybe we could.." She was about to say more when we heard the last call for her flight.  
  
She kissed me and ran to her give her ticket. I still feel her lips on my cheek.   
  
"Bye." My sister and Goten yelled and waved to her. I waved to her, she smiled and left. I miss her already.   
  
Maybe I'm in way over my head. Maybe it could never work out between us, maybe it could. She gave me hope. But whatever happens I know there will always be a maybe.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
Hope that made sense.  
I know it wasn't that long but "Maybe" was just an intro to "The Art of Love" so that'll you understand everything once I post it.   
I hoped you liked this, even if there wasn't any romance. There will be soon enough. If you really like this or think it's okay I'll get "The Art of Love" out quicker. You people motivate me. It's true.  
  
Please Review.  
  
SiNcerely Yours,  
SiN  
  
  
  



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